The Mystery of the Disappearing Sadrists

The New York Times reports that Muqtada al-Sadrís Mahdi Army has mostly melted away in Basra. Nobody quite knows why.

That is a real head-scratchin' puzzler, I'll allow.

Contributing to his befuddlement is the "fact" he offers that the Maliki government is more pro-Iran than Sadr has "ever been," despite the fact that Sadr gets his orders from Iran and takes refuge there while Maliki's IA is killing Iran-backed Sadrists by the barrel full.

It reminds me of the MSM's refusal to report on the amazing stabilization in Iraq after the surge began. We're just not sure it's a trend, they claimed.

When the facts seem to run counter to your metanarrative, throw your hands up in the air and claim confusion as to what these nonsensical and contradictory data could possibly mean.

That's "nuance in action" for you.

Kevin Drum and his ilk have no problem discerning precisely what an aggressive Mahdi Army might mean. But a retreating one? In that case, it's all just far too complicated for him to get a handle on.